The Tales of Fallout Squad
by TuxedoedCreepersStories
Summary: This story will follow the heroic adventures of RC-1112 "Wraith" and his squad as they undertake daring operations to help end the Separatist threat against the Republic.
1. Prologue

Prologue

"This better be worth seeing Norain. I'm supposed to be watching Delta Squad in the Kill House, and I'd rather not miss the show," the bounty hunter was saying. The man was rather heavy set, and wore a simple blue-gray tunic. However, to anyone that had been in the facility, they would recognize him. Jango Fett, the genetic blueprint for the clone army. On his way to watch another live-fire training course, he had been called into the flash simulation chamber by Halin Norain, one of the Mandolorian training officers used to tutor the commando troops.

"Don't worry Jango, I think you'll like this," Norain replied with a smirk, motioning towards the viewport that looked down into the chamber. Inside, a group of four commandos were exchanging fire with a simulated spider droid.

"Mind telling me what's so ! #$%^&* special about this? Delta Squad would have taken that thing out by now. Hell, Skirata's Null's would have killed it the second it was put in," Jango said in annoyance, itching to go watch the commando program's protégé squad.

"Don't look at the men. Look at the timer, and then look at the fault counter," Norain said, still smirking. Jango slowly looked up to the wall straight across from the viewport, where a holoscreen showed how long the simulation had been running, what squad was in the chamber, and how many faults they had made while inside. Looking it over, Jango took a minute to understand the significance.

"Thirty six hours? No faults? That screen has to be faulty. No squad has ever gone that long without at least one mistake. Not even Delta Squad," Jango said, staring at the screen.

"Oh I assure you Jango, every second on that screen is correct, and the fault counter is as well. I've watched them almost the entire time, and I had Skirata watch them during my sleep cycle. I've never seen the man impressed like that, and he works with the Nulls. Thirty six hours in, and they're still going strong," Norain said, the smirk turning into a full on grin.

Norain had been training the particular squad since they'd been deemed ready for combat training. Having helped trained several other squads, including Delta, Norain was eager to prove that he could put out his own group of superstars, and thus pushed them harder than almost any other squad on the planet. The leader of the squad, designated RC-1112, took Norain's lessons to a new level, and even during rest periods, had his team practice until they were virtually perfect.

"Well Norain, I must say that you've impressed me. Call me up when they make a fault. I want to know what their final time is," Jango said as he walked out of the room, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Will do Jango. Tell Vau to make sure Scorch doesn't blow a hole in the chamber again like he did last time," Norain replied as he turned back to the viewport.

The squad would continue in that chamber without any faults until the holoscreen read at forty three hours and twenty six minutes. The situation that they finally faulted at had them against a spider droid, ten SBDs, twenty B1s, and four destroyer droids. After the fault, they would continue for another hour before finally being incapacitated. When the day to deploy to Geonosis came, the other commandos were still talking about that time, and how the squad must have somehow sliced into the mainframe to put it up.

But their pre-war training is for a different tale. This story starts on Day Zero, the assault on Geonosis, and the squads heroic efforts to bring down one of the largest droid factories on the planet…


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Day Zero: Assault of Geonosis

Above the large, rust colored planet of Geonosis, a Separatist blockade stood at the ready, waiting to turn any arrivals away through sheer force. However, they weren't expecting what came to face them. A fleet, larger than most had ever seen, full of warships. The ships were unfamiliar in design, but the markings on them were not. This fleet was from the Republic, and the only thing that the organic captains on their ships could wonder, is how the Republic could have raised an army so quickly. Then the sky caught on fire.

As the ships all started exchanging fire, the largest of the Republic ships, later classed as Venators, started letting loose swarms of small yet bulky ships, all of them making a beeline for the planet's surface. Inside those ships, as the Geonosians and droids on the ground would soon find out, thousands of cloned soldiers from the planet of Kamino readied their weapons for a large scale engagement. Some of these troop transports, called LAATs by the clones, carried squads of specialized troops serving as commandos. All of these squads had already received their orders, and their pilots were taking them to their designated drop-off points.

Inside one of these LAATs, a commando squad readied their gear, having just received their orders. They were to breach their way into one of the largest droid factories on the planet, steal the specs from the control bay, and then turn the entire complex into glass. Like most commandos at this point, their armor was a cross between the white of the normal clone's armor, and a shiny silver. Aside from their armor, the squad's weapons were also different from that of a normal clone soldier. Known as the DC-17M Interchangeable Weapon System, the gun could go from its base fully automatic form, to that of an anti-armor weapon or a sniper rifle. With that, they also have their DC-15S side arms, and their wrist-plated vibroknives. With these few weapons, each commando was far more deadly than any normal soldier.

The squad consisted of the normal four men, led by RC-1112, and each of them had different strong suites, as was usual for a commando squad. 1112, also known as Wraith to his squad members, was known as one of the strongest leaders that the commando program had produced, his skills rivaling that of Delta 1138. His most noticeable trait was that he was a perfectionist. In training simulations, he would have his squad run the simulation until they could complete it without a single flaw. Whether this would lead to his squad's success or demise remained to be seen. He stood almost hanging out of the open door, holding onto one of the overhead handles and keeping his other hand up against the side of the LAAT, his weapon held against his back by a sling.

The second in command of the squad, RC-1168 "Slugger", was larger than his three squad mates, largely due to a genetic defect that had occurred while he was still in his pod. Because of this, Slugger was taller and more strongly built than his brothers, and because of it, far more aggressive. During live fire training, many made the mistake of thinking that he'd be easier to hit because of his size, when in reality, the only thing his size did was let him punch harder, and move faster. He differed from the others in another way, because he was carrying the equipment to set up a EWHB-12, which would be set up inside the factory early on to provide cover fire for them as they set the charges to frag it. He was standing by the door, ready to drop down.

The third member of the team was RC-1145 "Data". Data was the group's slicer, and much more. Data was known more for the fact that most of his gear had been modified or quite simply created by him. Data had made a gadget specifically for this mission, which would, when attached to Slugger's EWHB-12, would automate the turret and allow it to select targets and fire on its own, without one of the commandos having to stay behind with it. Along with that, he had specially made several different kinds of breach charges for the operation, which would ease their mission considerably. He was the farthest from the open door, recalibrating one of those charges to make sure it would do its job.

The last member of the squad was RC-1190 "Dragoon", the squad demolitions expert and most taciturn member. Dragoon frequently butted heads with Wraith because of Wraith's unorthodox orders, which, though they got the mission done without flaw, they were still usually toeing the line of what they were allowed to do. That being said, Dragoon was one of the best demolition experts there was, second only to Scorch who beat him, funnily enough, because of his unorthodox methods with explosives. Dragoon was on the other side of Slugger, his DC-17M held in his hand, the other holding onto one of the overhead handles.

The gunship they were in started to slow down within two kilometers of their target. Wraith leaned out of the door even farther, moving so that he was barely in the pilot's view. The pilot, whose nickname was Bug, turned slightly, making an inquiring sign with his left hand. Wraith made a different one, asking how close to the drop point they were. Bug made another sign, basically saying they were there. A few minutes later, the ship came down and landed, the ship itself powering off for the moment. The four commandos filed out, and the LAAT's cockpit opened so that Bug could hear what was being said. The group had orders to keep radio silence so that the factory didn't pick them up. There were enough LAATs and other ships in the area that the factory wouldn't have noticed the gunship touched down.

"Alright boys, listen up," Wraith started, tossing a holodisk down. The disk projected a layout of the factories inner workings. "Our entry point is a loading bay that is on a sublevel of the factory. To get there, we're going to have to go through this canyon. We're only about a kilometer away, so it shouldn't take too long. We'll have to keep an eye out for bugs and clankers, because there will for sure be some in the canyon to stop this very kind of operation. When we get there, our goal is to make it to this turbolift and head to command level three. When we get there, Slugger will set up the EWHB-12 here, on this balcony, and Data will set his device up on it. After that, we'll move towards the blast door, breach it, and steal the specs. From there we move back towards the balcony, board the lift, and head down into the factories power levels. We'll break off into pairs, set the charges, then leave the way we came in. We'll watch the fireworks from the LAAT. Any questions?"

"Just one sir," Slugger said, "Do we have an estimate on what we'll be up against?"

"Closest description is Simulation Thirty-Three. Expect heavy presence of B1, B2, droideka, and possibly DSD1 models. Keep your weapon up, and your head moving. Anything else?"

The other three commandos shook their heads. Wraith turned towards where Bug was still in the LAAT and waved him off. Nodding, the pilot lowered the cockpit, powered the ship back up, and took off. The four commandos stood up and moved out deeper into the canyon. Moving low and slow, they swept every angle with their specialized weapons up, keeping an eye out for trouble. Occasionally, they'd spot a single Geonosian, or the occasional pair of droids, and take them out quickly and quietly. When they were still about two hundred meters away, they started to be able to see the factory, taking in the massive size of it. Moving forward, they stopped moving forty meters from the loading bay entrance. Wraith and Slugger scanned the area through the scopes of their DC-17M sniper attachments. Motioning the other two closer, Wraith counted eight hostiles. Getting Data and Dragoon in position, he motioned for them to attach their anti-armor fittings to their weapons. Counting down from three with his hand, Wraith signaled everyone to fire.

Dropping the eight hostiles within two seconds, Wraith waited to see if any alarms would go off. After several seconds, he motioned his squad forward, detaching the sniper modifications from his weapon. Making it to the door, Data tossed a charge to Dragoon, which he promptly attached to the door. The four backed up and watched as the charge popped and seemingly expanded, then fizzled away, leaving behind a hole melted in the door. Stepping through the hole, the group moved into the factory, ready to face any foe that they would encounter.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Day Zero: Assault of Geonosis Part Two

The squad of commandos entered the factory through the melted door, their weapons sweeping the corridor. Staying quiet, they noted several droids working at consoles, but little else. The acidic charge had done its job of getting them a quiet entry. Branching out a bit, they took out the few droids in the room, and then moved into the center, Wraith putting the holodisk back on the ground for a moment. Crouching down, he removed four small data-chips from the disk, handing one to each of the squad members and keeping one for himself. The four plugged them into their helmets, and a small map of the complex came up in the upper left of their HUD. Picking up the holodisk, Wraith waved his men towards the turbolift.

The four filed in, and with a nod from Wraith, Data hit several buttons. As the lift began to ascend, the doors for it closed, sealing the four commandos inside the lift, and also conveniently hiding them from view. As the lift climbed up through the factory, Data readied the device that was going to be set on the EWHB-12 on Slugger's back. Dragoon and Wraith stood closer to the exit doors, their weapons at the ready to cover the other two as they set up the heavy turret.

When the lift hit the top, the doors slid open almost silently, a hiss the only noise coming from it. Nevertheless, several droids by the lift turned to see who was there, only to receive blaster shots to their heads from Wraith and Dragoon's DC-17Ms. The commandos rushed out, Slugger and Data heading right for the balcony that the turret would be set up on. As they did so, Wraith went to a railing that overlooked the same area that the turret would, and made sure nobody spotted Slugger and Data. Dragoon went towards the blast door and began prepping an explosive charge. After several minutes, the turret was set up and armed, ready to start firing as soon as it registered the blast door's detonation.

Dragoon turned and gave a thumb up to the other three, who moved over towards the door. Taking up their positions for a door breach, Wraith gave the go ahead to blow the charge. Turning his head, the charge blew the door open, Data throwing one of his homemade grenades through the door. The grenade was a modified EMP grenade, letting out EM pulses rather than one single blast. All of the droids in the room dropped to the floor, while the few Geonosians inside grasped their consoles and shook as electricity enveloped them. The four commandos ran in and gunned down the Geonosians, clearing the room of threats. Behind them, the sound of the of EWHB-12 firing rapidly could be heard.

Data made a beeline for the main terminal and went to work, slicing into the system. The other three commandos took positions and watched the door, making sure nothing got inside and stopped Data from finding what they came for. Slugger looked towards Wraith and made a sign, then moved back out of the door, heading over towards the turret. Dragoon and Wraith stayed put, Wraith attaching the sniper modifications to his weapon and keeping his scope on Slugger, watching his back. After a few more minutes, Data whistled and held up a data-chip, nodding to signal he was done.

Wraith nodded, then finally spoke, "Alright boys, let's move! We've got what we came for."

"Understood," Dragoon responded, "Data, secure the chip and move with me. We're not taking the lift."

Data nodded and followed Dragoon, the two running out of the room and heading towards a door to the left, which opened as they approached. Running through them, they ran down the hall as Wraith ran up to Slugger, detaching the sniper modifications and packing them up.

"Alright Slug, it's time to go. We're heading down towards the generators using the lift."

"Gotcha boss," Slugger replied, standing from his kneeling position.

The two ran into the lift, Wraith punching the button for the power level. As the lift descended, Slugger unclipped an EMP grenade from his belt, readying to throw it through the door when it opened.

Wraith brought his weapon up to the door and said, "Remember Slugger, just keep moving. Don't stop until we hit the generators. Set your charges quickly, and then we're outta here."

Slugger nodded. Pressing a button on the grenade, the small object started beeping. The lift began to slow down, and as it did the doors began to slide open. Without hesitation, Slugger tossed the grenade through the gap in the doors. After several more seconds, the grenade blew, right as the lift came to a stop and the doors slid fully open, revealing several short circuiting droids.

"Go go go!" Wraith yelled, running through the door with his weapon up. Even as they exited the lift, droids were already storming in from the other end of the hallway, firing at the two commandos. Wraith and Slugger advanced steadily, never stopping for more than a few seconds to give their shields a quick respite from the blaster fire. Moving up, they gunned down every droid they saw, but it seemed like for every one they took down, another three were right behind it. Then suddenly, it was over. The last few droids backed up through the blast door into the generator room, and the door closed behind them.

"Slugger, get a breach charge on that door! We need to finish this up," Wraith ordered, taking a position on one side of the door.

"Yes sir. Placing charge now," Slugger responded as he moved up, attaching the explosive to the door's locking mechanism and arming it, "Charge set. Clear!"

Slugger dove to the right as the charge blew the lock and forced the door open. Wraith spun from his spot on the left and tossed an EMP grenade in, following it through the door after hearing it pop. With Slugger right behind him, they cleared the room out, making sure they were the only things standing. After confirming their kills, they went to work.

"Slugger, set yours on the generator for the sublevel. Make sure you use enough that the whole thing will blow. I'd rather like not to come back here," Wraith said, moving towards one of the two large generators in the room.

"Understood sir. Setting the charged now," Slugger said, beginning to place explosives on the second generator in the room.

As they were working, their comms turned on for the first time, with Dragoon on the other line.

"Sir, the charges are set on the secondary generators. What's your status over?"

"Just about done, we're putting the finishing touches on our little present," Wraith said with a chuckle, priming the last explosive.

Turning to Slugger, he nodded that he was done. Getting a return nod from Slugger, Wraith waved him back towards the door and began sprinting for the lift. The two soldiers slammed into it and hit the button for the sublevel they had entered on, waiting impatiently as the doors closed and the lift began to descend. Checking their ammo, the two got ready for confrontation on the sublevel.

The doors opened, and the two stepped out with their weapons up, only to see Data and Dragoon finishing up the last few droids that had gone down there. Regrouping with the two of them, Wraith led the way as they ran back through the sublevel and out of the door that they had melted through. The four commandos sprinted through the canyon as Wraith contacted Bug on the comms.

"Bug, we've got what we came for, and this thing is rigged to blow. Get us out of here!"

"Understood. Be there in a flash."

The commandos kept sprinting until they came to the same spot that they had been dropped off at. Bug was just touching down a few meters away, and the four commandos jumped on, grabbing handles from overhead. Wraith moved so that he was in the same position that he had been when they arrived, hanging out of the LAAT. The gunship took off, heading into the sky. Wraith motioned his squad closer to the door, and then held up the detonator.

Pushing the button, the four commandos turned their helmeted gazes towards the factory. After several seconds, they watched as the evidence of their presence inside the factory went up into flames, and the entire structure began to collapse in on itself, fire and smoke billowing from hundreds of places. Behind his visor, Wraith was grinning. Though it was unknown now, he wouldn't have been surprised to know that everyone else on the gunship was doing the same thing.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Day Fifty-Two: Aboard the Nova

In the Coronet sector, a massive warship was cruising the space lanes, twice as large as the three Venator-class ships traveling with it. The ship was one-of-a-kind, and built exactly like the Venators next to it. The difference was purely size. Every aspect on the ship was double that of what was supposed to be the Republic's largest warship; hull size, crew, troop strength, firepower. The ship was known as the Nova, and it was the flagship of Admiral Mark Thowel, commander of the Republic's legendary Fifth Fleet. However, the ship had one more unique factor. The ship was home to ten different commando squads, rather than one. One of those squads was Fallout Squad.

Fallout Squad had been living aboard the Nova since the start of the war, deploying to operations from it, and returning to it when finished. Today, the squad was in the ship's personal holosimulation chamber, which was smaller than the one on Kamino, but not by much. They were running the most difficult simulation programmed in the system, the other nine commando squads watching. The most noticeable of these nine was Shadow Team, a commando squad that had the unusual job of being Thowel's personal guard. The squads were taking turns running the simulation, seeing who could last the longest without first making a fault, and then finally being brought down.

Wraith's squad had been running the simulation for an hour, and was already breathing hard. The simulation was far more difficult than the one on Kamino, which had earned Fallout Squad some fame before the war had even truly started. Now they were practically racing the clock, doing everything they could to maintain the image of being a "perfect" unit. They had already passed all of the squads except two, Shadow Team and Atom Squad. Now, they were facing two DSD1 units, along with a hit squad of trandoshan mercenaries.

As his team dealt with the threat, Wraith was multitasking, thinking about their last operation, the one that had caused the unit to rename themselves to Fallout Squad. The other squads had been thinking about the same mission as they ran the simulation, wondering what it would have been like had Wraith's team never returned.

The squad had been sent to a remote planet that didn't yet have a name, largely because it was uninhabited. However, there had been radio traffic coming from the planet, and upon investigation, a droid weapons factory was revealed. Partially due to their success on their first operation, Wraith and his men were sent to deal with it. The operation went off without a hitch, until the very end. The foreman of the factory, a Geonosian warlord, had built a fail-safe of sorts into the factory, a radioactive bomb that was built to destroy both the factory and the planet. The weapon was detonated, and the only thing that kept the commandos alive was their armor, and a special bubble-like shield that Data had made. The wave of radiation broke up communication signals, preventing the squad from calling for help, and jamming any signals coming in from their advisor. So, floating in space with suits sealed and the shield up, the squad floated in a highly radioactive zone until the Nova finally showed up to investigate, not wanting to send a single squad for risk of losing another.

It was this mission that was playing through Wraith's head as his team worked, and the rage fueled by it was what allowed him to keep his squad in a state of perfection. The squad had already dealt with the trandoshans and switched their focus to the two DSD1 units, two commandos engaging each one. The squad eliminated the two droids quickly, and abruptly, the simulation shut off. The squad looked around in confusion, and then stood up, looking up at the clock. They had just barely passed Shadow Team's time, who had kept the highest during every other squad's run. Major Stone, the leader of Shadow Team, was standing at the console, having shut off the simulation. He was slowly shaking his head in disbelief, yet grinning down at the squad.

"Now I see what Delta Squad meant when they said that you run a perfect squad Major. I'm impressed," Stone praised.

"Thank you. I've tried my best to keep them in top shape," Wraith responded, taking his helmet off.

The rest of Fallout Squad was taking their helmets off, sweat gleaming on their faces. Perfection was a nice goal, but a taxing one, for obvious reasons. Before anyone else could speak, the ship's intercom system turned on.

"Major Wraith, Major Stone, report to the command deck at once. Priority One details are to be given."

The two majors glanced at each other, and then jogged out of the simulation chamber, heading towards a turbolift. Entering the lift, Stone hit a button, and they shot up through the massive vessel, towards the command deck. Located five levels below the bridge, the command deck was practically a sealed bunker inside of a bigger bunker. The deck had no viewports, only blastdoors, and required a Level Four security clearance to enter, unless otherwise said.

When the doors opened, the two men stepped out and moved towards the small blastdoor at the end of the hallway. Pushing a button, they waited several seconds while the man on the other side of the door looked to see who it is and opened it. The two commandos walked through the door, which closed the second they were through it. Moving forward they went through another door into the command center, where they saw several of the ship's officers, including the admiral himself.

"Ah, good, you two made good time," Thowel said as he saw them, a small smile coming to his face, "Now we can get this out of the way."

"What's the problem sir?" Stone asked, his helmet under his arm.

"We've found the source of the communications traffic that our base on Corellia picked up. There appears to be some sort of military setup on one of the asteroids near Corellia. We know for a fact they are Separatist transmissions."

Wraith exchanged a look with Stone and said, "Let me guess sir, our teams are going to take it down?"

"Close," Thowel said, "Shadow Team is going first to scout the operation, see how large it is. When they have that done, they are going to send a transmission to us, and your team will be sent with them. After your last operation, I'm not quite ready to send only one team. Understood? Good. Go get your men ready."

The two majors nodded and began to walk out of the command center, heading back towards the lift. Going through the two doors and entering the lift, Wraith hit the button to go back down. The two commandos were silent, both mentally preparing themselves for the mission. Both were famous in their own ways for how they led their teams and both had nothing but respect for the other. But they also both knew that operations could get tricky when you involved more than one squad.

Exiting the lift once it had stopped, they walked back to the simulation chamber, where they found the other squads talking and laughing among each other. Each major waved their respective squad over to them, and told them their orders. The two squads left the room, and being noticed by the other eight, killed the mood in the room. Everyone remembered the last mission, and they all worried about the two squads, both of which were highly liked.

The two squads went to their respective LAAT gunships and geared up. At this point in the war, most squads had customized armor. Shadow Team wore Night Ops armor that had dark red visors, and a few dark red markings among the armor. Fallout Squad had painted their armor dark grey with a yellow secondary, and radiation green visors. Getting out of their training gear, they put their combat armor on and grabbed their weapons. Fallout Squad then went over to Shadow Team and exchanged their well-wishes. As Shadow Team boarded, Stone turned and grasped Wraith's hand, shaking it.

His last words before letting the doors close were, "If we fall, make sure the galaxy sees this place go up."

Then the doors closed, and to the men on the Nova, the next step to breaking the Separatist's back began.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Day Fifty-Two: Bright as a Star

The LAAT was rocketing through the asteroid belt, Corellia easily visible from the small viewports on the doors of the craft. Inside the gunship, a squad of four men stood with their hands grasping the overhead handles. All of them wore nearly identical armor, with dark grey plating, a yellow secondary, and green visors. Their LAAT was heading through the belt towards one asteroid in particular, one that held a Separatist military base.

Fallout Squad knew that opposition would be heavy, thanks to the recon done by Shadow Team. They were now heading to the asteroid to link up with Major Stone's team, and take the base down. As they approached the base, each man was prepping himself in a different way, all of them sweating a bit at the thought of the mission. The thought of their last op still hung heavy in the air, and they prayed that they would not see a repeat of it.

The LAAT was starting to slow, and Wraith was the first to notice, being the most at ease. He had already done his thinking, back aboard the Nova, and now it was time to get the job done. Whistling sharply to the others, he got them stacked up, two on each door, and prepared to exit. When the doors finally opened, the four men were off the gunship and heading for cover before the LAAT had even been on the ground for ten seconds.

Pausing, Wraith sent a single ping over the communication line to Major Stone. Getting a response after a few seconds, 1112 waved his men forward, in the direction of Shadow Team.

"I wonder why the Seps set up shop here," Data said as they moved. It was a thought the others had all shared, and up until this point, Wraith was the only one that knew, aside from Shadow Team. He turned his head slightly to tell them.

"There's some kind of special substance deep in this rock that they want. Cortosis. Supposed to be an energy resistant crystal. I heard it can stop a lightsaber."

The others didn't respond, taking in that information as they ran. Coming across a small crater on the surface of the asteroid, Slugger, Data, and Dragoon paused. Wraith however, dropped in and slid down the side, disappearing in a small hole that the others hadn't noticed. After a second of hesitation, they followed.

When they got down there, they found Wraith and Shadow Team sitting around a large rock, on which a holodisk sat. The disk was displaying different angled shots of the base, which Shadow Team's sniper, "Hail", had taken with an in-helmet camera.

"…-enses are rather light. I don't think they were expecting anyone to find them. However, their troops numbers are rather high," Stone was saying, pointing at several images.

"Any ah, nasty surprises?" Wraith asked, weariness evident in his voice.

"Unknown," Stone replied, sympathetic towards Wraith and his squad.

"Lovely," Wraith muttered, looking at his squad. Sighing, he turned back to Stone. "We need to hit this place hard and fast then. Data went ahead and made two more of those shield units, one for each of our squads. How are we getting in?"

"Your team is going to hit the landing platform first, make sure that if they call for help, that help will have to land outside of their base. My squad is going to attempt to slip into the front door and locate a lift. If we find one, I'll message you where it is, and we'll regroup there."

Wraith nodded, accepting this plan. Most people would chafe under taking orders from a man of the same rank, but Wraith knew Stone's story. The man was legendary for his strategy and tactical awareness. Where Wraith's squad thrived on his strive for perfection, Stone's thrived on his ability to think of every possible maneuver, every possible outcome, and act on those factors. The men respected each other, having no rivalry, for each understood what the other was stronger in, in a way that only men of the same strength could.

"Well then, I suppose it's time to get this show on the road," Wraith said, standing up.

"Good luck Major," Stone said, giving him an informal salute.

Wraith returned it, and then motioned his men out of the hole, following up behind them. After getting out, the squad started moving towards their destination, no one making a sound. Nobody had any questions. No second thoughts. It wasn't in their nature to have those. The squad took comfort in the fact that, though two-squad ops were frowned upon, the other squad was just as skilled as they were. They also took comfort in the knowledge that, if need be, the Nova stood by to turn the entire rock into dust.

After about twenty minutes of a brisk hike, they saw their target, no more than one hundred meters away, about twenty meters below them. Seeing their target, the commandos mental preparation ended, the mission being the only thing in their mind. Sliding down the slope, they moved quickly and silently to the platform, Dragoon prepping some high-detonation charges. While the others covered him, Dragoon crawled around under the platform, setting charges in spots that would guarantee the destruction of the platform, along with some fuel tanks nearby.

The squad moved towards the blastdoor that would lead into the base, and got ready to breach. Setting the charge and spinning away, Dragoon took cover as the charge blew and Slugger tossed an EMP grenade into whatever lie beyond the door. The squad rushed in after it, seeing several droids getting short circuited, and gunning down several others. They took a moment to observe the room, noting its rather small size. Moving towards the next door, Dragoon hit a detonator, and a roar could be heard behind them as the charges on the platform detonated.

Moving through the next door, Wraith got the message from Stone and motioned to his squad. The team started moving through each room, gunning down any droids they encountered. Eventually, they arrived in a larger room that's floor was littered with the bodies and pieces of droids. Scanning the room, the squad spotted Stone and his men standing by a lift, who waved to them.

"Heard the thunder outside," Stone said, "I'm guessing that wasn't an ion storm."

Wraith shook his head, and looked back at his squad, who were placing fresh clips into their DC-17M Interchangeable Weapon Systems. He turned back towards Stone, who spoke.

"Lift is on its way down, possibly with some baddies in it. Won't be too many of 'em though, considering the size of the lift."

"Understood. Fallout Squad, ready up," Wraith barked, causing his men to take positions similar to Shadow Team's, with their weapons aimed at the door of the lift.

After another minute of tense waiting, the door opened up to reveal a group of ten B1 units, which immediately was turned into a scrap pile by the amount of blaster fire sent into the small lift. The commandos stood and entered the lift, Slugger hitting the button to go up.

The lift ascended, and as it did so, all of the commandos once again put fresh clips into their weapons, so as to not be at a disadvantage when the doors opened. Slugger pulled an EMP grenade from his belt and readied it. When the doors opened, he tossed the grenade out of the lift, let it pop, and ran out with Wraith and Stone right behind him. As the commandos exited, they fired on the few remaining droids in the room, which happened to be the command room for the base, located in a central tower.

Data went straight for a command terminal, followed closely by Shadow Team's slicer, "Fusion". The two went to work on the console, using their combined expertise to break its code in seconds. Meanwhile, the other six commandos set charges in the room, until something caught Stone's eye. Turning, he looked out of one of the room's viewports and shouted in alarm.

"Boys, we've got a warship approaching!" Stone exclaimed, pointing towards it.

All of the others turned and looked, some fear creeping into their hearts. The ship was a new design of the CIS, recognized by the commandos as a Dreadnought class. The ship rivaled the size of a Venator, and as they stared at it, two more appeared in the system.

"Good lord," breathed Wraith, staring out at the three warships. "They must have really wanted this base…"

"Well," began Dragoon, drawing the other seven commandos' attention to him, "I say we deny that wish."

The others nodded grimly, and finished setting the charges, knowing that they'd have to resort to plan B. The original plan was to infiltrate the base, take down all hostiles, and take over the mining operation that the Separatists had started on the asteroid. However, now that the CIS had sent warships to take it back, they were to frag the command center, and, if they could, the entire base.

As they worked, Wraith and Stone watched the three massive warships approach, both knowing that even if they call in the Nova, their chances were slim. They made the call anyway.

"Data, get the Nova on the comms. We need their help, now," Wraith ordered, not taking his eyes off of the three ships.

Without answering, Data moved to a terminal and began working it, attempting to contact the Nova. As he did so, the others finished setting the charges, and moved to stand at the window watching the three warships approach. Before Data could have any luck though, a flash from the far left window blinded the commandos, all of which dropped to the ground out of instinct. Wraith was the first one to blink the spots out of his eyes, and when he stood up, what he saw amazed him.

On the edge of the belt, the Nova was approaching the three warships, its weapons blazing, and the nearby star's light making the ship shine just as bright. Looking at it hurt, and Wraith turned away from it, looking instead at the three warships. Whatever he had thought about the Nova's firepower before was wrong, as he witnessed the three Dreadnought-class warships get demolished by the firepower unleashed on them. The others started to stand up and stare in amazement as they saw the three massive ships turned to dust.

Then over all of their helmet communicators, they heard the same message.

"Commando squads Fallout and Shadow, this is Admiral Mark Thowel. Prepare for pickup boys, you're coming home."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Day One Hundred and Three: Love and War

The Nova was currently stationed above Coruscant, its crew just large enough to make sure its systems stayed running, and everyone else on shore leave. This included the commando squads such as Fallout Squad, and even Shadow Team, who were relieved of their guard duty by the Senate Guard. It was rumored that while there, Thowel was to be promoted to Fleet Admiral, an accommodation he basically already had, but was now being made official.

While they were on Coruscant, Thowel was meeting first with the Chancellor to go over the ceremony, and then the ceremony itself, which would be held in front of the Senate. To Wraith and his squad's surprise, they had been invited, along with Shadow Team, to attend. Until then however, they were to stay on Coruscant and do whatever was required of them by the commanding officers they had been assigned to.

Currently, they had been tasked with investigating a series of disturbances in the Industrial District, and were currently in one of several large office buildings in construction. The levels they were searching weren't close to being finished, the stairs and framing of the structure the only things done. Even the floor and wiring wasn't complete. Moving through, Fallout Squad was much farther up in the building than Shadow Team, having been tasked to start from the middle and go up, while Stone's men went from the bottom up.

Wraith was moving down a corridor, ready for anything that may happen, but walking in a state of comfort. Even if there was something here, the chances of it being really dangerous, in this area of the district, was very low. Most likely it was some low-time mechanics or such stealing supplies they couldn't afford. He hadn't gotten anything but "all-clears" from the rest of his squad the entire time, all of which were spread out.

Wraith was the highest up in the building, being only four floors from the top. Treading carefully, he paid mind to the holes in the floor, not wanting to find out the hard way how long the fall was. Moving towards the stairs, he was about to call in another "all-clear" when he saw movement. Stopping and dropping to a crouch, he peered through the darkness to try to recognize what he was seeing. Switching the mode on his visor to see better, he saw a slight, skinny figure in armor shuffling through a tool box.

Standing, he yelled out, "Hey you! Stop right there!"

The figure turned for a moment, then bolted up the stairs, moving faster than Wraith thought they would. Giving chase, Wraith maintained his distance to the target, but didn't gain on it. Leading him through each floor, the chase ended on the final floor. There was no roof access to this building, due to the odd shape of the roof itself. However, right now large pieces of the roof weren't in place yet, and moonlight and the light of the city washed in illuminating his target, which had turned to meet him.

Despite his training and his discipline, his breath caught in his throat. The figure standing across the way from him was a female, and a rather curvy, attractive one at that. The woman looked to be in her twenties, around the same biological age as the clones. Brunette, brown eyes, and a stern face, the woman was quite simply a knockout to the commando. Part of this was because the only females he had ever encountered were some of the officers on the Nova, and they were no lookers.

The woman was wearing dark green Mandolorian armor, and at least one weapon was visible, a blaster pistol sitting in a drop leg holster on her right thigh. She hadn't drawn it however, which surprised Wraith, but set him on even higher alert. But what surprised him most, was her lack of an aggressive, or even defensive, stance. She was standing slightly bent at the waist, her hands on her knees, breathing heavily from the mad dash through the three lower floors. She was also looking straight at him, more curiosity than fear or anger in her eyes.

The object she had taken was in her hand, an industrial-grade fusion cutter. The tool was rather expensive on the market, meant for use on starships and large military vehicles. They were also useful for cutting through heavy durasteel plating used in construction. Whatever the reason, she had stolen it from that toolbox, and he had to at least find out why.

"Now look," Wraith began, his voice cautious, "I don't want to hurt you. What are you doing, stealing tools in a place like this? Surely with armor like that, you have the money to buy one of 'em.

"The armor is an heirloom," she responded. She seemed to be studying his armor as well, and some amusement sparkled in her eyes as well as the curiosity noted before.

"I see. Well, I'm afraid I can't let you take that ma'am. If you just hand it over, I'll let you go peacefully," Wraith said, lowering his weapon a bit, its barrel aimed at the floor, but ready to snap up at a moment's notice.

"And why should I give it back?" she asked with some humor.

"It's not yours," the simple reply came, "And who ever owns it will probably miss it."

"Who said I won't return it once I'm done?"

At this, Wraith paused. It was still theft, but now she was making it sound as if she only needed it temporarily. Deep down, he didn't care one way or another. In fact, he was rather annoyed that they had commandos sweeping buildings like petty police troops. As he thought about it, the woman slowly stood to her full height, which was still about five inches shorter than the commando.

"What's your name?" Wraith inquired, trying to at least start some kind of file.

"Why does that matter?" she responded, sounding rather teasing, "Does the soldier have a crush on the rule breaker?"

The comment surprised Wraith in two ways. For one, the woman was showing complete ease around him, a trait he'd only seen shared with other commandos and Admiral Thowel himself. For another thing, she was actually mocking him, or so he thought. Part of him was still trying to assess whether she was a foe, and her light-hearted tone was making that difficult. He had no orders to fire in the case he found someone, just apprehend them. He had done that. Now what?

"Ma'am, I just need your name," he tried again.

"I see," she said, her smile still present. "Well, I suppose I could tell you. What's the harm? Aisha Thara at your service soldier."

Wraith nodded, his gaze scanning her again for any more visible weapons, and again only seeing the blaster pistol. Scanning his surroundings, Wraith kept his head still, but his kept eyes moving, making it seem as if he was staring at Thara.

Mistaking the gaze, she joked, "See anything you like there buddy? I thought I was being arrested, not checked out."

This snapped his attention back to her, who had still not tried to go anywhere. He was starting to get rather worried. Why had she led him up here?

"I'll ask again, please return that fusion cutter," 1112 said, attempting to gain headway.

"And I told you, I'll do so when I'm done with it. What's so hard about that?" she asked, still smiling.

At this point, Wraith was itching to call his squad up here, but something made him hesitate. And it wasn't the girl. It was something else. Something outside of the building. Looking up, he noticed the smile had slid off of Thara's face, and she was looking out of one of the unfinished windows. Then her head snapped back to the soldier.

"Why did you have to hold me up so long," she said, fear starting to enter her voice, "Now they've found me!

"Found you? What are you talki-," Wraith started to ask before a loud explosion was heard, and he felt the floor beneath him drop.

Falling, Wraith started bouncing off of structural supports, and he attempted to slow his decent by grabbing some of these things, finally coming to a stop six floors down, Wraith groaned as he rolled off of his back, and pushed himself up, looking around. Seeing a hole in the floor that wasn't there when he first had travelled this floor, he staggered over and peered through, drawing his DC-15S as he did. During whatever had just happened, he'd lost track of his DC-17M. Peering down, he could see the girl faintly stirring, and after hesitating a moment and looking around, dropped down.

Landing a few meters away from her, he approached with caution. She however didn't stop him, and upon looking her over, he saw why. She had broken one of her legs, and badly, judging by how messed up her leg looked in the armor set. After looking her over, he made a decision and holstered her sidearm, grabbing her by the arm and lifting her up, putting her over his shoulder. Stumbling towards the stairs, he could hear heavy chatter on his helmet comms as his squad mates and Shadow Team tried to figure out what just happened. Then himself get addressed.

"Sir? Sir do you hear me? This is Slugger. Are you alright?"

Responding, Wraith answered, "I'm fine. Just a little shaken. Do you have a visual on what caused that?"

"Yes sir," Slugger confirmed, filling Wraith with pride. "It was a small ship that fired torpedoes into the structure below the second-to-top floor. It's circling now."

"Alright. I'm coming down with a female, Mandolorian by the looks of it. She was stealing a fusion cutter. Got a name. She said something that hints to them gunning for her."

"Understood sir. Ground level is secure, and we're waiting for you."

"I'm almost there. Just wait up," Wraith said, ending the talk.

Continuing down the stairs, 1112 carried the girl the entire way, her body lighter than he thought it would have been. He figured that she couldn't weigh more than one hundred-fifty pounds. As he moved, she started to stir, groaning in both pain and confusion. Realizing what was happening; she tried to slide off, only to be held steady by the commando.

"Hey, get off me you brute! This is NOT how you treat a woman!" she started yelling. She then yelled in pain as she attempted to kick him with her broken leg, and realized why she was being carried.

"I'll let you go when an EVAC shows up," Wraith said, "But not until you tell me who the hell those people were."

"The Death Watch? You've got to be kidding me," she said in surprise, wincing in pain. "Everyone knows who they are."

"Death Watch on Coruscant? What did they want with you?"

"Something about their leader not liking my family. They already killed my mother and brother."

Arriving on the ground level floor, both fell silent as the other three members of Fallout Squad saw Wraith and ran over, Dragoon shouting towards Shadow Team. As the two squads regrouped around Wraith and Thara, Shadow Team's "medic", Prints, stepped forward and produced a kit of medical gear. After Wraith set her down, Prints began treating her leg. The rest of the commandos gave them some space while Wraith told them what happened.

"You're telling me that the Death Watch, a wannabe Mandolorian clan, is hunter that girl?" Stone asked, doubt laced in his words.

"I'm not telling you that, she is," Wraith responded, having the same doubts as his counterpart.

They both looked over to the girl, who seemed to be having a rather lively conversation with Prints. Other than that, she looked fine. Prints had done about all he could to fix up her leg. The rest would be up to a treatment center.

"Sir!" Data yelled over, "That ship is coming back. We need to get out of here."

"Understood," Wraith said, turning so that everyone could hear him. "Commandos, move for the landing pad, now!"

The commandos all scrambled, including Shadow Team. Even if Wraith wasn't their squad leader, he was still one of the two senior men there, and new how to lead just as well as Stone did. As they ran out of the building, Wraith hit several buttons on the wrist of his armor, signaling for an evac.

Arriving at the pad, they all took defensive positions, getting in cover. As they did, the sound of the approaching ship grew louder, and suddenly, it was in view. The ship's design was unfamiliar to the commandos, but what wasn't was the sound of blaster cannons charging up. Right before the small ship opened fire however, the whine of turbolasers was heard, and looking up, the two squads saw Fallout Squad's LAAT screaming by overhead, its guns blazing at the smaller ship. After several hits, the ship broke off, weaving between some buildings as it left.

The LAAT circled in the air a few more times, and then began to descend. Bug, the pilot, was visibly high-fiving his co-pilot, both of which were cheering about their quick rescue. The gunship landed on the ground with the doors opened, and Shadow Team boarded first, Prints dragging Aisha Thara with him. Fallout Squad followed up behind them, the doors closing after they were on. Once they were in the air, Wraith turned once more on Thara, much more aggressive than he had been before.

"I'll ask you one more damn time girl, and you better answer. Why the hell was the Death Watch here?"

Thara hesitated, realizing the time for a joking response was long gone. Thinking carefully, she started to speak.

"I suppose because they despise any Mandolorian that openly supports the Republic. Like my mother. Like my brother."

"And you?" Slugger asked, turning to look at the Mandolorian woman.

"Well, I have no love for the Death Watch, and droids don't exactly make the best travelling companions," the reply came, a teasing tone starting to enter her voice again.

At this, the men fell silent, finished with their small interrogation. Staying quiet until the LAAT landed, they encountered no more trouble. They let the woman leave without any charges, and as she sauntered away, she turned and blew a mocking kiss at Wraith, then turned and ran off, laughing hysterically as she did so. The only thing Wraith could wonder was how a woman like her had survived as long as she did with her attitude. Then he turned and returned to the LAAT, ready for the next assignment.

Several blocks away, Aisha Thara was walking into an ally, meeting someone she had so far only talked to via a secure HoloNet link. Waiting in the predesignated spot, the man appeared after several moments, dressed in all black armor.

"You know, up until that ship came into sight, I thought you were bluffing about who you were," she said with a small smile.

"You didn't give it away?" the man asked seriously.

"No Mister "R.I.D." I didn't. And that little device you gave actually worked. I'd say that clone was quiet…interested."

"That was the test. We know that ARC units are almost completely free-thinking. We needed to know the extent of the RC units' thoughts. Finding out what emotions they can feel was the first step to that."

"Uh huh," Thara said, growing bored. "Just tell me this. Am I gonna see that guy again? Or was this a one-and-done kinda thing?"

"What you do on your own is no longer our concern. You will no longer be contacted by us. You will find that the credits have been wired into your account already. Have a good evening."

And just like that, the man was gone, leaving a rather bemused Mandolorian woman behind. After a moment, she shrugged and walked back onto the main street, chuckling to herself. The Death Watch thing wasn't part of the plan really. She had already known that it was that shady man's people in the ship, but she had to make the story seem a bit real right? The part with her mother and brother were true, though that stuff had happened years ago. Shaking her head, she continued on her way, trying to put the thought of the two squads out of her head.

Meanwhile, the same two squads, along with the rest of the Nova's usual garrison, had been recalled to the ship. Something major had come up, and the ship was getting underway. Thowel had received his promotion, but his ceremony would have to wait. It was time to re-enter the war.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Day One Hundred and Fifty Four: Planet Fall

Fallout Squad was not on board the Nova. In fact, the only commando squad that still was on the massive warship was Shadow Team. Stone and his men had stayed behind to guard Thowel. The rest of the squads were split up between two ships, or rather, two ships that were in the final phase of construction.

The group was currently above a massive, unnamed rock that some called a planet, others called an asteroid. In the orbit of this rock, was a shipyard, created and used secretly by the Republic to make some of their more famed warships. Among these was the Nova. Due to the "planet's" location, the shipyard was undiscovered, and only a few people knew about it in the Republic's government.

Called back to the shipyard, the Nova's RC squads had been tasked to guard the two ships currently in construction, the Trident and the Meteor, both of which were just waiting to receive all of their software installs. Of the nine squads that left the Nova, five were on the Trident. The other four, including Fallout Squad, were on board the Meteor. The squads were patrolling the ships, making sure no one that wasn't supposed to be on board was present.

The reason for this security was that a Republic installation with the plans for these two ships in its database had been raided, and the files stolen. Much of the data in the file had been redacted, but there was still a high risk involved. And so the Nova had been sent to defend the shipyard, both to other naval fire support, and offer up its Special Forces units.

Wraith's men were currently walking down a corridor that lead to one of the barracks, along with the galley. All were relaxed, feeling secure in the knowledge that the Nova was all but sure to repel any attack, especially with the shipyard's AA batteries behind it to offer support. The four were chatting amiably, walking at a leisurely pace. At the moment, Slugger was making a joke towards Wraith about their operation on Coruscant, and the woman involved. Wraith was laughing along with the others, but keeping his thoughts on the matter guarded.

Among them, the other three squads were also patrolling the ship. One of those squads consisted of volunteer troops, all of them given the same training as their clone counterparts. It seemed odd to Wraith that the Republic would even take volunteers, considering the amount of clones that served, but that wasn't his call. The squad was called Proto Squad, and had been serving on the Nova for about the same amount of time that Fallout Squad had been.

As they walked, they occasionally would pass one of the other three squads, nodding greetings to them. The squad members searched each sector thoroughly when they got to it, even though all of them had been checked before. In reality, the same sectors had been checked and rechecked almost six times now, as the squads had really just been rotating their positions.

"So sir," Slugger began, "Got any plans for when this war ends?"

It was a subject that the squad had discussed briefly before, but had never really taken seriously. But now with the construction of these two warships, the squad was beginning to think that the war would end soon.

The special thing about these two ships was that they were made in the same way the Nova was. The two ships were designed after the Acclamator's template, except the ships were doubled in size. They were being made to join the Nova's fleet, one to provide heavy fire support, the other to act as a sort of shield. Trident's firepower had been upgraded to the point that they were not far behind that of the Nova's. The Meteor however, had gotten a shield upgrade, its shielding units far stronger than most other frigates. The Trident was scheduled to leave its dock first, and was almost finished receiving its software updates. The engineers on the Meteor however had just started.

"Well Slugger, I've never really thought about it. I mean, truth be told, my main focus has been getting through this war, not thinking about what comes after," Wraith said all of this in a bland tone.

The other three nodded at that, knowing the feeling. Some of the others had thought about that kind of stuff, if only briefly. Unsurprisingly, Data had thought about it the most.

"Well, I've thought about it for a while. I've always thought about maybe going and joining the Republic scientists, or maybe the engineers. It'd be nice to see if I could help anyone make something new y'know?"

Wraith nodded at that. The group continued to walk, heading towards the engine room. It was then that Dragoon paused, causing the rest of the squad to do so.

"What's up?" Wraith asked.

"Why haven't we seen Proto Squad? We should have passed them on the last rotation."

The others now stopped and thought about that. During each rotation, the squads were supposed to pass each other at one point or another. Now that the rest of the squad was thinking, they realized that they had not seen Proto Squad in the last two rotations. Before that rotation, Proto Squad had been tasked with sweeping the engine room, which happened to be Fallout Squad's next stop. They started the walk, moving a bit faster than they had before.

Before long, the squad reached the engine room's deck level, moving quickly to find Proto Squad. They passed several control areas, their purpose being for engineers to support the systems on board. As the squad passed them, they could see small numbers of suited up engineers working on them. They followed the markings leading them to the engine room.

They made it to the door and paused, wondering what they would find on the other side. Then, with a nod from Wraith, they opened the door, moving into the massive room. They moved forward, breaking off into two pairs. Wraith and Slugger went down a metal set of stairs towards the main engines, while Data and Dragoon moved straight ahead on the catwalks, moving towards the auxiliary controls.

Data and Dragoon came up with nothing, searching the entire auxiliary area and not finding anyone else. They started to move back towards the staircase…

Wraith and Slugger had moved down the stairs, and were approaching the main engine controls. The walkways were narrow, so they had to go single-file, with Wraith in the lead. They both had their DC-17M Interchangeable Weapon Systems at the ready, and they moved steadily towards their target area.

Rounding a corner, they came up on the primary engine controls. There they found Proto Squad.

"Captain Rallings, where have you been?" Wraith questioned, raising his voice over the roar of the engines.

Captain Tacao Rallings, leader of Proto Squad, spun around, his helmet off and his face dirty. In a split second, he had a DC-15B raising up, firing straight at Wraith's head. Wraith and Slugger instantly ducked, bringing their own weapons up with shouts of surprise. Rallings turned and ran, heading around the corner where the rest of his squad had already gone. After a moment of hesitation, Wraith and Slugger followed…

Data and Dragoon had gone down the stairs and started towards the main engine controls when they heard the blaster fire. Reacting instantly, they moved as fast as they could through the narrow walkways, their weapons up and ready. By the time they made it to where they thought they heard the blaster fire, the only thing there was the helmet of one of Proto Squad's members. The two rounded the corner, going deeper into the engine bay…

Wraith and Slugger were following Rallings deeper into the engine bay, having yet to contact the other two. They were running now, trying to keep up with the captain of Proto Squad. As they chased him, he pulled things down into their path, slowing them down. Eventually they reached the end, where they found Rallings and the other three members of Proto Squad, one of which threw a small remote to Rallings. It was then that Wraith noticed the thermal charges placed all over the engines in this area. Yelling a warning, Wraith tackled Slugger to the ground as Rallings hit the button, causing the entire area to erupt in a flash of light and sound…

Data and Dragoon were about halfway to the end. They were moving carefully through tipped over items, most of them storage containers for circuits and whatnot. Moving quickly, they saw evidence of Wraith and Slugger having gone this way. When they were about one hundred feet from their destination, they saw a bright flash and heard the roar of an explosion, coinciding with a tremendous shake like the entire ship was falling apart. It knocked the two confused commandos to the ground…

 _The Nova:_

Fleet Admiral Mark Thowel watched the finishing touches be added to the two war ships from his bridge, not wanting to miss a thing. It was this that would alert the crew. After watching the ships sit idle for the longest time, the first thing picked up was a major flash from the Meteor's engines, and a apparently massive shake of the cruiser. When the flash cleared, the ships engines were nothing but slag, and the massive ship was falling from the dock towards the rock below, the explosion having dislodged it from its connections. It looked odd to the shocked Admiral, that as the Meteor fell, Trident was pulling out of its dock, ready for duty. Then the Admiral remembered the men that he had on board the Meteor, and watched as it started to fall more rapidly…

 _Inside the Meteor:_

Wraith knew that the ship was falling. He could feel that much. What he didn't know was how fast it was falling, or what part of it would hit first. At the moment, he was barely holding onto a piece of the walkway, keeping himself from being sucked out of the ship. Slugger had himself tucked into a small alcove, better sheltered than Wraith. He was also unable to reach Wraith.

Soon, Wraith started to lose his grip, and all he could do was stare up at Slugger as his de facto second in command tried to reach him, yet knowing he never would. Right before he slipped, Wraith gave him a thumbs up. He then lost his hold and went out a hole in the side of the hull, falling with the ship and all of the hull and engine fragments around it. It took several more seconds. Then the warship hit the ground…

 _Aboard the Nova:_

Thowel had already raised the alarm. The RC squads on the Trident were coming off and preparing for mad dash rescue missions to save their brothers from the wreckage of the Meteor. Standing on the bridge, Thowel turned and looked at Major Stone for a long moment, than spoke.

"Major."

"Yes sir?"

"Bring. Them. Home."

"Yes sir…"


End file.
